Christmas Joys Abound

As I sat down to write this post, I realized I didn't take any pictures of probably one of the coolest things I've ever made before I sent it off as a present.  Oops.  I feel sheepish.

Here are some things I made and remembered to photograph:

This bear is for my friend Susan out of part of an unfinished family heirloom quilt top.  I think he looks quite distinguished in his leather chair.

This is the fourth quilt made from Susan's mom's gardening shirts.  It's for her nephew, so now all her mom's grandkids have one.  My mom made quilts out of my Grandpa's shirts for all of my cousins and me a couple years ago.  I love mine so very much; so I was happy to be able to make these meaningful quilts for Susan.

I made this pillow from linen for Josh's mom.  We brought back two bags of pine needles from Maine so she could have a pillow and a supply of delicious smelling potpourri (is it potpourri when it's not made from flowers?) to put in it.  It's got an envelope-style back so she can refill it with fresh needles every once in a while.

I made this scalloped hat for our one year old niece, Josie.

I made this butterfly hat for our nearly five year old niece, Abi.

It was hard to see the butterfly, so I stuffed it to get a better picture.  It looks kind of creepy.  I'm assuming it will look much cuter on the head of an adorable five year old.

Josh painted these for the girls and they match the mugs we got their parents at the Saturday Market last Christmas.  Now they have a family set!

I also crocheted some stuffed snowmen wearing tiny scarves, but I neglected to take their picture as well.  Don't hold it against me - things are a little hectic around here!  Aside from scrambling to get all my projects finished, we've been planning a trip to Costa Rica in January.  Additionally, December is the busiest month of the year in the non-profit world because everyone feels extra generous.  This is a wonderful phenomenon, but makes for long work days for me.  Lastly, my long work days are nothing compared to Josh's.  He is in the middle of 28 days of work without a day off.  That includes overnight every Saturday (Yes, Christmas Eve.  Yes, New Year's Eve.)  But the end of December means we are halfway through residency.  That sounds pretty nice!